brad@gcc-opus.ARPA (Brad Parker) (12/09/84)
I'd like to get some practical advice from all the aces on the net. I'm still (!) a student with about 55 hours, all in 150's and 152's (Cessnas to you model flyers). I've been taken to doing a lot of solo touch and goes, mostly because it's very enjoyable and I would like to be good at it. I thought I had reached an acceptable level (for my hours) till last week. It was a very nice VFR day except for wind - I'd say about 10Kts gusting to 20Kts. At an uncontrolled strip I shot 3-4 t&g's with no problem and was able to correct for the crosswind easily. At this airport the active placed the crosswind comp. at about 10-20 degrees. So, feeling good I went to a controlled airport with a different runway configuration. This time the active placed the crosswind at about 70 degrees. To make things more interesting, the airport is on a plateau, so you get interesting surface wind effects. OK - on with the story. I entered the pattern high, and my first approch was horrible. This is how students fly (don't worry, it's not acceptable to me). I got about 10-15 feet about the strip, started to anticipate the ground effect, all limbs in motion keeping the thing level and straight (not an easy task) when the gusts either came or went (went I guess) and my stomach told me I was falling faster than I should be. So, being a good boy, I punched the throttle, subtracted carb heat, etc.... Informed tower I was going around. Second approch - much better. All set, ready for touch down - BLAM same massive sinking and lots of crosswind trying to turn my little volkswagen with wings sideways. I execute another go around. Now I'm upset. Third approch - no flaps - fast (no less than 80kts). I'm gonna do this. Everthing is fine - get into ground effect and BLAM - massive gusts wild control motions to keep the thing straight - I'm about 3-4 off the ground and real nose high - I get several stall warnings (I love that sound - sounds like a old bull in heat) and finally touch down - not hard but skidding. I had no problem controlling the skid - and took off again. I left the pattern and went home - no problem landing with the cross wind at about 5 degrees off the runway. OK - this whole adventure left me discusted and very warry (sp) of practicing t&g's on such a gusty day. I thought it would be good practice. Any advice on this very long winded description (I can't believe I just typed all these words) ? What would a "pro" do in this situation ? How do us young'ns learn to deal with light planes in gusty weather? I would never want to put an inexperienced passenger through one of those attempted landings. -- J Bradford Parker uucp: seismo!harvard!gcc-opus!brad otherwise: what else is there ? "Somebody take the professor into the back and plug him into the HyperDrive!" - Hann Solo refering to C3PO. "What I did that night, what she did that night, Realizing my hope I thrust myself towards glory..." - David Burne
doug@terak.UUCP (Doug Pardee) (12/10/84)
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The only thing I would have done differently is to have aimed for
a touchdown point farther down the runway (I am assuming since it
was a controlled field that it had a fairly long runway). This
would reduce somewhat the effects of landing on a plateau.
Gusty landings are always difficult, and not always possible.
By the way, one other thing that I would have done differently...
after two go-arounds, it's time to leave the pattern, gather
yourself together, and only then go back for another try. It's
amazing how strong the desire is to make it OR ELSE on the
third try. And we know what "or else" is.
Doug Pardee -- Terak Corp. -- !{hao,ihnp4,decvax}!noao!terak!dougdjmolny@wnuxb.UUCP (DJ Molny) (12/13/84)
What does an old pro do? Well, I'm hardly an old pro (only 125 hours), but I've had my share of bounced landings. There's nothing to do but swallow your pride and apologize to the passengers when it's over. (They're usually pretty understanding, too.) The most important thing is to retain your sense of humility, and avoid overflying your abilities. "There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, but there are no old bold pilots." Regards, DJ Molny ihnp4!wnuxb!djmolny
rl@ucsfcgl.UUCP (Robert Langridge%CGL) (12/14/84)
In article <333@wnuxb.UUCP> djmolny@wnuxb.UUCP (DJ Molny) writes: > >The most important thing is to retain your sense of humility, and avoid >overflying your abilities. Amen. Should be on the placard of every aircraft we fly. But then he quotes the old maxim: >"There are old pilots, and there are bold pilots, >but there are no old bold pilots." There ARE indeed "old bold pilots" (Yeager, Doolittle...), but their abilities are hard to overfly. To paraphrase Fitzgerald: "They are different from you and I". Bob Langridge (UUCP: [...]!ucbvax!ucsfcgl!rl) Computer Graphics Laboratory (ARPA: rl@ucbvax 926 Medical Sciences or University of California langridge@sumex) San Francisco CA 94143